SB 571 - This act modifies several provisions relating to elementary and secondary education. GRADUATION RATE DEFINITION This act changes the definition of "graduation rate" to be the graduation rate determined by the annual performance report required by the Missouri School Improvement Program. (Section 160.011) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). SCHOOL DISTRICT ACCREDITATION When the State Board of Education assigns classification designations to school districts, it must use one of the following designations: unaccredited, provisionally accredited, accredited, and accredited with distinction. The State Board of Education must develop and implement a process to provide assistance teams to borderline districts, as determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and to underperforming districts upon assignment of such classification or determination by the Department. Teams must have at least ten members, including two active classroom teachers in the district, two principals, and one parent of a student in the district. The Department staff member assigned to the region may be included in the team activities but shall not be formally assigned to the team. Teams shall provide an analysis of the assessment data, classroom practices, and the communication processes within buildings, in the district, and the community, and also provide prescriptions for improvement based on the district's and community's needs. The team shall provide recommendations by June 30, 2017. Assignment of teams must be prioritized so that districts with lower APR scores are addressed first. Suggestions are mandatory for underperforming districts but not for borderline districts. If an underperforming district disagrees with any suggestion of the assistance team, the district shall propose a different method of accomplishing what the team has suggested. (Section 161.087) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 764 (2016) and SB 633 (2016), and is substantially similar to a provision contained in CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). BOARD OF EDUCATION ACCREDITATION POWERS SECTION 161.092: This act requires the State Board of Education to classify charter schools and the virtual public school. It shall also promulgate rules under which the Board shall classify these schools. SECTION 161.238: The State Board of Education must adopt a system of classification that accredits individual school campuses within a district separately from the district as a whole. School campuses must be assigned one of the following classification designations: unaccredited, provisionally accredited, accredited, or accredited with distinction. The State Board my consider the classification designation of a school campus in its accreditation classification system to exempt school campuses with classification number outside the range of numbers assigned to high schools, middle schools, junior high schools, or elementary schools. Public separate special education schools within a special school district are exempted from these accreditation requirements. However, a special school district must report all scores on its annual performance report to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for all of its schools. A juvenile detention center within a special school district is exempt from these accreditation standards. These provisions waive the statutory two year delayed effective date for school accreditation rules for this system. This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015) and SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and is similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), and SB 930 (2016). STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION INTERVENTION POWERS This act allows the State Board of Education to lapse the corporate organization of all or part of an unaccredited school district. If the State Board appoints a special administrative board for the operation of a part of an unaccredited school district, the State Board of Education must determine an equitable apportionment of state and federal aid for the part of the district. In addition, the school district must provide local revenue in proportion to the weighted average daily attendance of the part governed by the special administrative board. The State Board of Education may appoint members of the elected board to a special administrative board but members of the elected board shall not comprise more than forty-nine percent of the special administrative board's composition. Nothing in this provision of law shall be construed to permit either the State Board of Education or a special administrative board to raise, in any way not specifically allowed by law, the tax levy of the district or any part of the district without a vote of the people. This act provides that when the State Board of Education determines another form of governance for an unaccredited district, that other form of governance will be subject to the following provisions of law: it will retain the authority granted to a board of education; it will expire at the end of the third year of its appointment unless reauthorized; it will not be deemed to be the state or a state agency; and it will not be considered a successor entity for purposes of employment contracts, unemployment compensation or any other purpose. If the State Board of Education reasonably believes that a school district is unlikely to provide for the required minimum school term because of financial difficulty, the State Board may, prior to the start of the school term, allow continued governance by the existing district school board under terms and conditions established by the state board of education. As an alternative, the State Board may lapse the corporate organization of the district and implement one of the options available to the State Board to intervene in an unaccredited district. However, this provision will not apply to any district solely on the basis of financial difficulty resulting from paying tuition and providing transportation for transfer students. (Section 162.081) This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). VIRTUAL EDUCATION Currently, when a resident student completes a virtual course offered by his or her school district, the student's attendance upon course completion is calculated as ninety-four percent of the hours of attendance for such class delivered in a non-virtual program. This act provides that when a student is a candidate for A+ tuition reimbursements, the school must attribute no less than ninety-five percent of attendance to the student's completion of the virtual course. (Section 162.1250) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 764 (2016), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), HB 1895 (2014) and a provision contained in CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). TRANSIENT STUDENT SCORES The act defines "transient student" as any student who transfers from one school building to any other school building two or more times in one school year. In a transient student's first year of attendance in a district or charter school, the student's score on the statewide assessment shall not be included when calculating the status or progress scores on the district's or charter school's annual performance report scores. In the second year of attendance, the transient student's score shall be weighted at thirty percent. In the third year of attendance, the transient student's score shall be weighted at seventy percent. In the fourth and all subsequent years of attendance, the transient student's score shall be weighted at one hundred percent. The transient student's growth score shall be weighted at one hundred percent for all years of attendance. (Section 162.1305) This provision is similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). NOTIFICATION OF UNACCREDITED STATUS When a district or attendance center becomes unaccredited, the district shall promptly notify the district taxpayers and the parent or guardian of students enrolled in the district of the loss of accreditation within seven business days. The notice shall also include an explanation of the option for a student in an unaccredited school to transfer and any services for which the student may be eligible. This notice shall be posted in district attendance centers and must be sent to district taxpayers and each political subdivision located in the boundaries of the school district. (Section 162.1310) This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 571 (2016),CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). HOME VISITS The school board of any district that operates an underperforming school shall adopt a policy regarding the availability of home visits by school personnel, and may offer the parent or guardian of an enrolled student the opportunity to have one or more annual home visits. The school shall offer the opportunity for each visit to occur at the attendance center or at a mutually agreeable site. (Section 162.1312) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015) and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014), and is substantially similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), and CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015). SCHOOL FUNDING This act modifies the definition of "current operating expenditures" so that, when used to recalculate the state adequacy target as provided in this section, any increase in state funding attributable to an individual district shall be limited to two hundred percent of the aggregate percentage increase in state funding for all of the performance districts used in the same recalculation. (Section 163.011) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 764 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), and SB 6 (2015). CHARTER SCHOOLS When a local school board sponsors a charter school, it may only submit an estimate of the district's weighted average daily attendance for the current year. The school board will be prohibited from using a weighted average daily attendance count from any preceding year for purposes of determining state aid. (Section 163.036) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 764 (2016), SCS/HCS/HB 1451 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). TUITION FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS Currently, the school board of a school district that does not maintain an accredited school is required to pay the tuition and transportation of resident pupils who attend an accredited school in another district of the same or an adjoining county. This provision of law currently applies to both unaccredited school districts and K-8 school districts that do not offer high school grades. The act repeals the provisions applicable to unaccredited school districts so that the statute only applies to K-8 school districts. (Section 167.131) This provision is identical to a provision contained in SB 571 (2016), SB 633 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). A school district or approved charter school, as defined by these provisions, that receives transfer students may negotiate with a sending district to accept a reduced tuition rate as described in the act. If a receiving district or approved charter school chooses to accept the calculation in these provisions, the school district or approved charter school must receive students through the transfer authority based solely on parent request and available seats. If there is disagreement as to the amount of tuition to be paid, the facts must be submitted to the Missouri Board of Education, and its decision in the matter is final (Section 167.132). This provision is similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), and CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015). TRANSPORTATION FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS Currently, the school board of an unaccredited district must designate accredited districts to which it will provide transportation for transfer students. This act requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to identify at least one accredited district to which an unaccredited district must provide transportation. If the designated district reaches full capacity, the department must designate at least one additional district. (Section 167.241) STUDENT TRANSFERS Any student enrolled in and attending an unaccredited school in an unaccredited district for at least one semester may transfer to another accredited school in his or her district of residence that offers the student's grade level of enrollment. However, student transfers from an unaccredited school to an accredited school in the student's district of residence cannot result in a class size and assigned enrollment in the receiving school that exceeds the standard level for class size and assigned enrollment under the Missouri School Improvement Program resource standards. The school board of each unaccredited district must determine the capacity at each of the district's accredited schools. The district's school board is responsible for coordinating transfers from unaccredited schools to accredited schools within the district. The school board must report to the appropriate education authority the number of available slots in accredited schools, the number of students who request to transfer within the district, and the number of transfer requests that are granted. Enrollment in a virtual school provided by an unaccredited school district shall not affect the number of available slots. A student who is enrolled in and attends for at least one semester an unaccredited school in an unaccredited district who is unable to transfer to an accredited school in the district of residence may, by March 1, apply to the appropriate education authority to transfer to an accredited school in an accredited district in the same or an adjoining county. A student who is eligible to begin kindergarten or first grade at an unaccredited school in an unaccredited district may apply to the appropriate education authority for a transfer if he or she resides in the attendance area of an accredited school in an unaccredited district on March 1 preceding the school year of first attendance. A student who does not apply by March 1 is required to enroll and attend for one semester to become eligible. Any transfer student who does not maintain residence in the attendance zone of his or her unaccredited school in the unaccredited district will lose transfer eligibility. In addition, a student who withdraws from the transfer will also lose transfer eligibility. Unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts and schools are not eligible to receive transfer students. However, a student who chooses to attend a provisionally accredited school in the unaccredited district may do so if there is an available slot. In addition, a district or school with a three-year average score of 75% or lower on its annual performance report is not eligible to receive transfer students, except for any student who was granted a transfer prior to the effective date of this act. Districts that receive student transfers are not required to do any of the following, unless they choose to do so: exceed the class size and assignment enrollment standards of a district-approved policy on class size; hire additional classroom teachers; or construct additional classrooms. Each receiving district may establish a policy for desirable class size and student teacher ratios by January 1 of each year. If a student is denied admission based on lack of space an appeal may be made to the State Board of Education. Each receiving district must adopt a policy establishing a tuition rate by February 1 annually. If an unaccredited district becomes provisionally accredited or accredited, any resident student who transferred to an accredited district will be permitted to continue his or her educational program through the completion of middle school, junior high, or high school, as described in these provisions. Any student participating in the school transfer program prior to January 1, 2017, must have the option of transferring to an approved charter school or another public school in the student's district of residence. When costs associated with the provision of special education and related services to a student with a disability exceed the tuition amount, the unaccredited district is responsible for paying the excess costs to the receiving district. When the receiving district is a component district of a special school district, the unaccredited district must contract with the special school district for the entirety of the costs to provide special education and related services, excluding transportation. The special school district may contract with an unaccredited district for the provision of transportation. A special school district must continue to provide special education and related services, with the exception of transportation, to a student with a disability transferring from an unaccredited district within the same or a different component district. If the St. Louis City School District is unaccredited, it is responsible for the provision of special education and related services, including transportation to students with disabilities. A special school district may contract with the St. Louis City School District, as described in the act. Regardless of whether transportation is identified as a related service, a receiving district that is not part of a special school district is not responsible for providing transportation. An unaccredited district may contract with a receiving district that is not part of a special school district for transportation. When districts other than St. Louis City are unaccredited, they may contract with a receiving district that is not part of a special school district for the reimbursement of special education services. (Section 167.826) This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014), and is similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 571 (2016), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015). By August 1, 2017, and by January 1 annually, each accredited district in the same or an adjoining county as an unaccredited district must report to the appropriate regional education authority the number of its available enrollment slots by grade level. Each unaccredited district must report the number of available enrollment slots in the district's accredited schools. Each charter school in an unaccredited district that wishes to participate in the transfer program must provide this information. Each education authority with an unaccredited district in its geographic area must make information and assistance available to parents who intend to transfer their child to an accredited district or approved charter school. Parents who intend to transfer their child must send initial notification to the appropriate education authority by March 1. The education authority will assign transfer students as space allows. The education authority will give first priority to students who live in the same household with family members within the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity who have already transferred to an accredited school and apply to transfer to the same accredited school. If insufficient enrollment slots are available for a student to transfer, that student will receive first priority the following school year. The authority is only able to disrupt student and parent choice for transfers if a receiving district's available slots are requested by more students than there are slots available. The authority must consider the following factors in assigning schools: the student's or parent's choice of the receiving school is the most important; the best interests of the student; and distance and travel time. The authority must not consider student academic performance; student free and reduced lunch status; or athletics. An education authority may deny a transfer to a student, who in the most recent school year, has been suspended from school two or more times or has been suspended for an act of school violence, as described in these provisions. (Section 167.827) This provision is similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). REGIONAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES This act creates three separate regional education authorities to coordinate student transfers, one for the St. Louis region, a second authority for the Kansas City area, and a third authority for the rest of the state. Each authority will consist of five members who must be residents of their covered area, as described in the act, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, who will serve for a term of six years. The Education Authority must coordinate and collaborate with local districts and local governments for the student transfers. Parents who want to transfer their child must notify the appropriate regional education authority by March 1. The education authority will assign students to districts using an admissions process, as described in the act. (Sections 167.830 to 167.842) These provisions are substantially similar to provisions contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015), SCS/SBs 1, 22, 49 & 70 (2015), and CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493 et al. (2014). TRANSFER AND TRANSIENT STUDENT DATA The act requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to compile and maintain student performance data scores of all transient and transfer students and make the data available on the Missouri Comprehensive Data System. Personally identifiable information shall not be accessible on the database. (Section 167.890) This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016), SB 764 (2016), and CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015). JOSHUA NORBERG